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O’s prospect Harvey breaks out with 10 Ks vs. Lakewood

After back-to-back losses as a starter on the mound, Delmarva Shorebirds pitcher — and one of the Baltimore Orioles’ top prospects — Hunter Harvey put together a breakout performance against the Lakewood BlueClaws on Monday, May 12.

The 3-0 victory not only put Harvey back to .500 on the season as a starter, at 2-2, but brought the Shorebirds back to the mark, as well, at 18-18.

In what may have been his best start since being selected by the Orioles in the first round of the 2013 draft, Harvey allowed only two hits and struck out 10 batters in seven innings — a career high in both strikeouts and innings pitched for the promising young pitcher.

Jimmy Yacabonis would pitch the final two innings in relief and notch his ninth save of the season while locking in the Shorebirds’ fifth shutout of the season.

Delmarva followed the performance on Tuesday, May 13, with a 2-1 victory against Lakewood that would put them past the .500 mark at 19-18 (as of Coastal Point press time on Wednesday, May 14).

Pitching was again instrumental in that matchup, with Steven Brault following Harvey’s performance of the previous night with an impressive effort of his own, allowing only one run and four hits in six innings.

Shorebirds outfielder Mike “Yaz” Yazstrzemski got the scoring started in that game when he connected with a shot that sailed over the right-field fence in the third inning, to give his team a 1-0 lead. The home run was one of only seven so far this season for Delmarva.

The BlueClaws would go on to even the score at one when back-to-back base hits in the sixth inning led to a Lakewood RBI-single. Jon Keller would pitch in relief for Brault in the seventh, with Brault ending the day with seven strikeouts.

After Keller retired six consecutive batters, the game went into the bottom of the ninth still 1-1, until Austin Wynns sent a shot down the left-field line that would score Josh Hart all the way from first, ending the game on a walk-off RBI-double.

The Shorebirds hit the road for a seven-game stretch on Wednesday, May 14, set to first face the Kannapolis Intimidators in North Carolina and then squaring off against the West Virginia Power.

They aren’t scheduled to return to Perdue Stadium until Thursday, May 22, to again take on the Intimidators and mark an eight-game home series.